Rea Vaya points get thumbs-up from commuters

Details

27 May 2016

Commuters are enjoying the savings they're able to make with Rea Vaya's new points system of paying for fares.

Lindiwe Maema, an acting supervisor at Helen Joseph Station, with colleague Hamilton Kanapi. ABOVE: Themba, a Rea Vaya regular who says the points system is helping him to be more disciplined with his cash.

Rea Vaya's new points system of paying for fares has received the thumbs-up from commuters.

Rethabile (25), who lives in Soweto, said she was enjoying the benefits of the new system - in particular, the savings she is able to make by accumulating bonus points, which can be used for extra trips on Rea Vaya.

"I use the bus into town each day and have saved quite a bit money with the new points system," she said as she waited for her bus at Rea Vaya's Helen Joseph Station.

"In the past I used to load R400 onto my card each month, but ever since the points system was introduced, I have managed to save about R100, and spend close to R300," Rethabile said.

Rethabile has been taking full advantage of Rea Vaya's special introductory rate of up to 25% in bonus points for loading amounts of R51 or more at the same time.

By loading R400 at one time, she not only gets 400 regular points (R1 = 1 Rea Vaya point) - she also gets the full 25% bonus, which in her case translates to 100 bonus points. In other words, she's scoring R100 worth of free travel on Rea Vaya, simply by loading a large enough amount at the same time.

"The bonus points will come in handy," Rethabile said before breaking off the conversation to board her bus. "Especially when I am broke."

Themba (28), a freelance photographer who is a frequent Rea Vaya commuter, also had praise for the new system, although for a different reason.

Previously, Themba was in the habit of using his Rea Vaya smartcard to do bits of shopping here and there. With the new points system, however, this facility is no longer available - Rea Vaya's smartcards are now travel-only cards.

For Themba, this is a plus, as he says it helps him control his spending habits better. "It is transport money I know I will have, that I will not abuse buying unnecessary stuff," he said.

Lindiwe Maema, an acting supervisor at Helen Joseph Station, said her customers seemed mostly happy with the points system, and that the number of people loading larger amounts onto their smartcards had increased noticeably since 1 May, when the system was introduced.

"There are still others who prefer the old system, but I am sure that they will eventually accept the changes once they understand what it is all about it," she said.